Moving By Numbers
by Jinxed-Wood
Summary: When Max and Alec stumbled across the body, they knew it was going to be trouble...they just never guessed it would get out of hand so fast… Post 'Freak Nation, books ignored, MA
1. Chapter 1

There was time when only banks and museums had security guards and indoor sensors, but times had changed in Seattle. The transgenic presence in the city was now official – and so was the rise in security failures in the city's banks, museums and vaults. The locals weren't stupid, and it's amazing how many places had beefed up their security in the last few weeks. It almost worked.

Almost.

"Y'a know, I've heard of going out on a limb, Maxie, but this is ridiculous."

"Can it, Alec. We don't have time for this."

Alec sighed theatrically. "Never a truer word—"

A small hand clamped over his mouth, and Alec suddenly found himself nose to nose with his partner in crime, her dark eyes boring a hole into the back of his head. "I said, _shut_ it," she said, two bright spots of pink flushing her cheeks as she smacked his arm.

Ducking his head, he pulled himself away from Max's grasp. Unfortunately, this had the side effect of swinging the rope he dangled from straight into the wall. "Ouch!"

"Serves you right," Max whispered smugly as Alec cradled his nose.

Alec glared at her silently, as he probed the cartilage for breakages. It wasn't broken, but it hurt like a bitch. He supposed an evening without pain was too much to ask for. "_At least I didn't get shot,_" he consoled himself, then mentally smacked himself as he remembered that the night was still young. Way to borrow trouble.

TC was in serious need of hard currency, especially since the local drug dealers had gotten smart and stopped carrying cash around with them. So their choices were limited. It was either rob a bank or go back to their cat burgling ways.

Guess which one Max picked?

It was fun in a way, Alec admitted to himself, and a hell of a lot less stressful than the goings on back at TC, but that didn't change the fact Max was the last person who should be pulling of a heist. If they got caught, the press would have a field day with the fact the leader of the freak nation got caught with her fingers in the till.

But, as usual, Max had over ruled him. "_I'm not going to let someone else take the risk and, besides, who better than me to pull this off?"_ Alec wasn't really sure when _me_ became _us_, but here he was, all the same, dangling from the ceiling of one of the most notorious crime bosses in the city. What the _hell_ had happened to his sense of self-preservation? He was so _whipped_.

A sharp tap across the head caused him to wince. "Earth to Alec, snap out of it, the guard will be back any moment."

"Easy on the bodily harm, Max," he muttered. "We don't want me all disorientated and falling now, do we?"

"Don't tempt me!"

Alec sighed; the bitch was back, and with a vengeance. He had nothing against Logan, but he wished the guy would get a clue, and stop pressing all her buttons. It tended to put a dampener on Alec's life, not to mention the bruises. "Max, Max, think of the _money._" He drawled. "You don't want to loose all that lovely green for the sake of seeing me land on my ass."

Max pursed her lips. "Oh, I don't know," she said, her voice sugary sweet. "I think it might be worth it."

Alec smirked. "Why Maxie, I never knew you felt that way…what would Logan think?"

Max's eyes narrowed, and Alec hastily blurred down the rope, stopping a few feet above the ground. "_Okay, so maybe Logan isn't the only one who pushes her buttons, but at least _I _do it on purpose," _he thought, grinning as she scowled and followed him down.

"You know, every time I'm stupid enough to think there might be a real person lurking inside you, you always remind me what a jerk you are."

Alec's grin faltered. "Relax, Max, it was just a joke"

"A joke is something that's funny, Alec," Max shot back. "You know, when the other person laughs? Guess they didn't cover humour in Manticore."

"Yeah, well, all those years on the outside hasn't seemed to have done much for your sense of humour either, Maxie. Loosen up, will ya, you're beginning to sound like Normal."

"Don't call me _Maxie_."

"Bip, bip."

"Why you—"

Alex swung out of the way as Max aimed another punch. "Next time you try that, I'm gonna hit back," he warned.

"Why are you here again?"

"You tell _me_, this was _your_ brilliant plan, remember?"

"Don't remind me, I should have brought Dix. At least he's good company."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Dix? Yeah, _that _I'd like to see."

"Well at least he would have done a smoother job with the alarm system."

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"You poured superglue all over the circuit board!"

Alec shrugged. "Nobody said it had to be pretty…which reminds me..." Gently, he swung the rope and snagged the end of the desk. "Time to put the pressure pads out of action."

Max sniffed but didn't say anything as he tapped at the console on the desk. Colin Freeman, Seattle's not-so-respectable businessman, wasn't an idiot, and he had several different security precautions built into his house; the floor sensors being one of them. "Are you done yet?" she eventually asked.

"Hold on, don't get your panties in a twist," he muttered. "_There, _got it."

Max raised an eyebrow and produced a penny, tossing it into the air. It landed on the floor with a tinkle, and spun on the hard marble floor, Alec let out a long breath when the alarms stayed silent. "Guess you did get it," Max said, smirking as she snapped the release on her harness and dropped to the floor.

"Oh ye of little faith," Alec said, mirroring her actions. At least they didn't have to worry about cameras. Freeman was a little too paranoid to allow the goings on in his house to be taped, even by his own security team.

Quickly, they blurred out of the room and down the hallway, coming to a stop when they got to their next target. The blueprints Dix had acquired indicated that Freeman's vault was situated in the basement and that it was sealed off from the rest of the building; no windows, no stairs, just an elevator which could only be accessed from Freeman's study.

"This better be worth it," Alec said as he eyed the laser eyes embedded in the study's doorway.

"Quit complaining and give me a hand here," Max murmured distractedly as she slipped the small mirrors from her pocket, and pulled the infrared goggles over her eyes.

Alec hunched down beside her and waited for her to angle the lasers out of the way. "Are you done yet?" he teased.

"If you don't stop that, you won't need to worry about my panties. They'll be twisted around your _neck_."

"Promises, promises…"

Max sighed. "Stop yapping, Alec, and get the damned door open."

"Whatever the lady says. " He nudged his lock pick them into the lock, feeling around for the telltale give. The pick slipped into place, and Alec turned it, grinning as he heard the snick. Soundlessly, he twisted the handle, letting the door fall inward as he slipped inside. "Piece of cake."

"Show off," Max murmured, a hint of a smile hovering on her lips.

Alec breathed a silent sigh of relief as he noticed her mellowing mood. She'd been simmering on a low boil ever since they'd left TC. It was possible that there was someone out by Mexico who hadn't heard her argument with Logan, but he doubted it.

Well, okay, maybe he wasn't being totally fair. It was hard to have a private argument when everyone within ten square blocks had transgenic hearing, but they could have at least tried to keep it down, his ears were still burning.

"_Not my fault_," he told himself firmly. "_I ain't the one who lied to lover boy, so I don't see why I should take the heat."_ Unfortunately, telling that to Max would only get him a thwack about the ear, so he kept it to himself.

"Alec, you're drifting again," Max said, and Alec looked at her guiltily. The girl was beginning to know him too well. Time will come when he won't be able to keep a single thought to himself.

"Dreaming about what you will do with your cut?"

Okay, so maybe his mind was safe for a little while yet. "How ever did you guess, Maxie?"

Max rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, pulling the laptop out of her backpack. "Let's get this show on the road."

Alec watched as she attached the laptop to the elevator's keypad and ran the code breaker program. Just another of Dix's little touches. Maybe Max was right; Dix would be one scary thief if he put his mind to it.

The laptop blipped, and Max grinned as the doors began to slide open. "You see, this was the—"

Alec followed Max's eyes and groaned as he spotted the body slumped inside the elevator. "Aw shit, that's all we need."

"Its Freeman," Max said, feeling for a pulse. "He's dead."

"This is getting heavy, Max," Alec said worriedly. "Let's get out of here."

"We need the money, Alec."

"We also need our heads still attached," Alec said, scratching his head. "And this situation stinks. We can't be caught here, Max; he's the biggest mobster in the city. If anyone connects us to this, our lives will become even more hellish. Even our gun suppliers will dry up."

Max nodded reluctantly as she stood up. "Okay let's blow."

Silently, they made their way back through the house and onto the roof, not stopping until they were safely off the grounds. "So what do we do now?" Max asked, frustrated. "We're running out of food _and _medical supplies."

"I think that's the least of worries right now," Alec muttered, his ears perking up as he heard the distant shrill of sirens. "Let's split."

Max swung a leg over her bike and frowned as she looked back at the house. "You don't think it's a coincidence, do you," she said, revving the engine.

"No, I don't," Alec admitted. "In fact, I'm pretty damned sure someone tried to set us up."

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this, Alec."

"You aren't the only one," he said grimly, sliding his visor down as he pulled his bike onto the road. Whoever had done this had some serious connections, and Alec found himself hoping it was the work of Familiars. The last thing they needed was more enemies.


	2. Chapter 2

Restlessly, Alec played with the keys in his hands, tossing them from palm to palm as he watched the news on the muted television. The rhythm of the movement soothed him as the newsreader droned on, but he couldn't quite shake the feeling there was a storm brewing on the horizon.

The soft pad of a footstep caught his attention, and he looked up to see Max leaning against the doorjamb. "Anything yet?" she asked.

"Nope," he said, as he studied her drawn face. The last few weeks had taken a toll on her, and the worry lines around the corners of her eyes were etched deeper.

"That should be a good thing," she observed. "We have enough on our plate without being fingered for the death of the local mafia Don."

"Then why do I get the feeling somebody is about to drop an anvil on my head," he asked rhetorically, dragging his feet off his desk as she slipped into the room and closed the door after her.

"Because it doesn't fit, Alec," she admitted. "The guy had the best security that money can buy. He should have been untouchable."

"We got in," he pointed out quietly.

Max threw him a sharp look. "You think it was one of us?"

"You telling me you weren't thinking the same thing?" he asked, a hint of challenge in his voice. "Come on, Max, they might as well have hung a sign around his neck saying 'Manticore was here.'"

"Yeah, Logan said the same thing," Max said uncomfortably.

"That's because Logan isn't stupid," Alec muttered under his breath as he got to his feet. "What else did he have to say?"

Max shrugged, not meeting his eyes. "Oh, you know, the usual."

_Why did you leave me? Why him?_ _Be careful. _Yeah, Alec knew exactly what he said. "You'll have to come clean with him eventually," he said tersely. "The guy suspects something anyway."

"I can't, Alec." And there it was; the pleading eyes, the quivering lower lip. Damn, he was such a sucker.

"So what do we do about Freeman?" he asked, dropping the subject.

"I have Dix checking into his background," she said. "But the guy has a list of enemies even longer than ours. Logan has put a few feelers out through his 'Eyes Only' contacts, but so far nobody's bitten."

"It could be the Familiars," Alec suggested tentatively. "Ya know, trying to stir things up and all."

"Nice try, Alec," she said dryly. "But you don't believe that any more than I do."

"Yeah, doesn't really fit their MO," he admitted. "Now if it was some bigwig who did a lot for charity, it might be another thing. Nothing like the senseless death of a good Samaritan to get the angry masses going."

"So, it's either one of us, or there is a new player in town," Max agreed.

"Great, that's all we need, a new bad guy in our lives."

Max smirked. "Welcome to my world."

"Tell me again why I agreed to be your second in command?"

"Temporary insanity?" Max joked. "That and the fact nobody else was stupid enough to take the job."

"Speaking of which, I had Mole in here earlier," Alec said. "He wants to know what we're going to do for cash since we didn't bring home the bacon last night."

Max pulled a face. "There is always the municipal gallery, I suppose," she said. "I was kind of hoping we wouldn't have to, though. I hate hitting public museums."

"Yeah, the goods are always such a bitch to hock," he said dryly.

Max hit him in the arm, but there wasn't any real weight in the punch. "We need the money," she said simply. "Our food supplies are dangerously low, and the medics are down to aspirin and plasters."

"Fun, fun, fun," Alec drawled. "Are you going to listen to reason and get somebody else to pull the job, or are we going ourselves again."

"Actually, I was thinking of bringing Dix along this time," she teased. "See if he can't come up with something a little more sophisticated than superglue."

"Oh, but who will you hit if it all goes wrong?" he said, smirking. "Lets face it, Dix's ass ain't half as tempting as mine."

Max rolled her eyes. "In you dreams, pretty boy," she said.

Alec silently agreed, feeling a brief pang of regret. Ruthlessly, he pushed it away. Max may be technically single, but he'd be a fool to think her torch for Logan wasn't still burning bright. "So, tonight then?"

"Tonight," she said. "But first we need to drop by Logan's. I've got a new set of glyphs on my back."

Alec scowled. "I thought they'd stopped coming."

"Apparently, the tattoo art fairy just keeps giving and giving," she said flatly as she made her way to the door. "See you in the garage in five." The door shut quietly behind her, and Alec bit his thumbnail thoughtfully.

New glyphs meant new prophecies, and that never boded well. He made a mental note to talk to Dix about it. Logan did the best he could with the translations, but it really wasn't his thing. Dix, on the other hand, had a real facility for languages and he was a quick learner. He should have asked him to check out the glyphs before this but he had been half hoping they'd seen the last of the damned things. So much for wishful thinking.

Sighing, he switched off the television, and grabbed his jacket. Time to face 'Eyes Only'. If only he didn't feel so guilty every time he was in the same room as the guy. He knew, technically, that he hadn't stolen his girl – as if Max was the kind of woman that anybody could steal – but he couldn't suppress a gnawing sense of uneasiness every time they met. Maybe it was because they both knew that he had a thing for Max. The female transgenic may be ignorant of his feelings but Logan certainly wasn't.

If it weren't for the virus, they wouldn't be in this situation. Logan and Max would be shacked up together, playing happy families, and he wouldn't even have got a look in. Of course, he wasn't exactly in with a chance now, either. Even if Max were interested, he'd still feel like a shit for taking advantage of it.

_Don't go there, Alec old buddy_, he told himself as he closed the office door and sauntered through the control area, _that way only leads to pain and suffering._

"Hey, Alec, wait up" Dix called from above, and Alec looked up to see him waving a file.

"What's up?" he asked, waiting as the compact transhuman blurred down the steps.

"Got some info on that Freeman guy," he said hurriedly, opening the file as he skidded to a halt. "Seems he had some dealings with Manticore after the pulse."

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked tiredly, as took the file from Dix's unresisting hands. That Manticore had been strapped for cash after the pulse hit was old news, as was the fact that they'd taken some unsavoury bedfellows as a result. It wasn't a stretch to believe they didn't draw the line at the mafia. Quickly, he read through the file, frowning as his eyes fell on the relevant data. "Tell me I'm not reading this correctly," he said flatly.

"'Fraid I can't do that," Dix muttered. "Five stable X5 embryos in exchange for fifty million, cash."

Alec quickly did the math. Let's say it took Freeman a year to set up the Lab, then another year to impregnate the women. They would be what, eight, nine? "They probably didn't all make it," he said aloud.

"Forty percent failure rate in the first twelve years," Dix said promptly.

"Which means we're talking about three, maybe four prepubescent X5's," Alec said. "Man, how could they have been so stupid?" His mind wandered back to the high security in Freeman's mansion. A totally secure basement with only access point; the elevator where they'd found Freeman's body.

"And there goes the other shoe," he said under his breath. "Did Max see this?"

"Not yet," he said. "Figured I'd better run it by you first."

"Chicken," Alec drawled.

"I call it survival instinct," he shot back, grinning as he headed for the steps. "Good luck!"

"You're all heart," he muttered, tucking the file into his jacket as he stalked away. If Max had a blind spot, this was it. She'd go through hell and fire to protect a child she thought was in danger. The second she learned what Freeman had been up to, she'd be crawling all over it.

For a moment, Alec entertained the thought of not telling her. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

Yeah, _right._

"Took your time," Max said impatiently as he entered the Garage. "I was going to send a search party out for—" she halted, mid-sentence, as she got a good look at his face. "What's happened?"

Silently, he pulled the file out and handed it to her. "You're not going to like it," he said as she flicked it open.

Her face fell still as she got to the pertinent page. "Is this for real?" she asked softly, her eyes suddenly burning brightly with rage.

Alec knew what was coming; he figured he'd beat her to the punch. "Wanna go and check it out?"


	3. Chapter 3

Alec wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but a house blazing with lights and a lawn crawling with armed men hadn't been anywhere near the top of his list. "This is _not_ good," he said, under his breath, as he hunkered down on top of the wall.

Max's grip tightened on his arm. "We've got to get in there."

"Guess I shouldn't have left my invisibility cloak back home, then," Alec said dryly. "Reality check, Max, there's no way we're getting in there; not without being noticed."

Max pouted, but nodded reluctantly. "Who are these guys?" she asked aloud. "They sound Russian."

"Mercs, probably," Alec said under his breath. "They've got the look." His ears picked up a low hum coming from her jacket. "Max, your pocket is vibrating."

She pulled out her cell and sighed. "It's Logan," she said, turning the phone off.

"You didn't tell him about our little detour?"

"I had a lot on my mind, okay?"

"Whatever," he muttered. "Well, we might as well—"

Max cut him off. "Alec, look." Alec's eyes zoomed in on what had caught her attention. Two of the Russians were walking along the perimeter of the lawn and nearing their position. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked lowly.

"I doubt it," he muttered. "Max, this is crazy. The smart thing to do is to fall back until we figure out what the hell is going on here."

"And what better way to get some intel than from the horse's mouth," she countered.

"You're not expecting me to answer that, are you?"

"Don't argue with me, Alec."

Alec bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue and sighed as she tensed to leap. He felt a brief pang for the good old days before he'd met Max Guevera. For one thing, he got shot a lot less.

The two mercs were now within ear shot, and Max signalled with her hands. _You take the one on the left, I'll take the right._

Alec rolled his eyes, but Max was too intent on their targets to notice. He glanced down on the two muscle bound men as they slowly strolled through the lawn, shining their flashlights into the hedgerow. _Look up, you morons. Geeze, who trained these guys?_

A walkie-talkie hissed, and their targets halted in their tracks as one started to talk into his mic. Alec's eyes narrowed as he homed in on the conversation. His Russian was a bit rusty, but he could make out the gist of it.

"_Perimeter three, anything to report?"_

"_No, sir, all clear." _

"_Good, keep me posted."_

"_Will do, sir."_

Alec let out a breath of relief, and tensed as their heads jerked up. They couldn't have heard him, could they have? A flashlight suddenly glared in his face, and Alec blurred, leaping up on him before he had a chance to raise his gun. They rolled together on the grass, as Alec tried to get his arm on his throat and cut off his air supply.

It wasn't working.

"Alec, they're Reds." He looked up to see Max warily circling the other target before glancing down at the man beneath him; he grinned back. _Oh shit._

He barely had time to block the blow to his head, before the Red aimed another punch to his stomach. His breath lurched as the blow hit home. Quickly, Alec disengaged and sprung to his feet, pulling out his gun as the Red jumped to his feet, the grin still plastered on his face as he slowly raised his hands. He risked a glance at Max and winced as he saw her take a blow to the face. "Time to go, Max," he hissed, keeping the gun trained on his target.

"You are not going anywhere," said the Red he had within his gun sights. "The boss wants to meet you. He knew it would be only a matter of time before you came sniffing along."

Alec didn't like the sound of that; it reeked too much like a trap_. "Max."_

"I'm a little busy, Alec," she huffed.

A shout came from the house, and Alec groaned as he heard the distant running of feet. "You're going to be a lot busier if we don't haul ass," he warned.

"I _noticed._" She swiped at her target's feet, sending him to the ground just as the first bullet zinged through the air, barely missing his head. "Let's go."

He backed up, covering the two Reds as Max nimbly climbed the wall, then turned to grab her extended hand. A bullet grazed his leg, and he cursed under his breath.

"I swear, I'm going to start wearing a suit of armour around you," he grumbled as they both tumbled to the other side and ran for their bikes. "You're bad for my health."

"Quit your yappin'," Max said. "It ain't that bad."

"Where to?" he eventually asked, as they reached their bikes.

"Logan's," she said tersely. "You need to get cleaned up."

"I thought you didn't think it was that bad?"

"It isn't, but we can't have you bleeding all over the museum floor," Max snapped as she started her engine.

"Busy, busy, busy," Alec groaned. "The life of the trained super soldier is never over."

"Suck it up, Alec," were her departing words as she pulled onto the streets. Alec shook his head wearily as he pulled out after her, his leg beginning to sting as the adrenaline wore away. Luckily, she was right; it was a graze at most.

Still, it had been a near call. How the hell had a group of Reds managed to set up shop in Seattle without them knowing about it? He mulled the question over in his mind as the streets fled by. Mole and Dix had been keeping a sharp ear to ground for this kind of thing.

They'd suspected that, once the government calmed down and started thinking clearly, they might try to find a way to even the odds and give them room to 'negotiate'. Reds had been the likeliest option. Super strength, super speed…pity the implants also happened to eventually kill the subject.

At last they pulled up outside Joshua's. Except it wasn't Joshua's anymore, it was Logan's place. Alec eased himself off the bike, wincing slightly. Suddenly, Max was hovering at his arm, glowering at him with that worried yet impatient look she had perfected so well.

"How bad is it?" she asked abruptly.

"Just a scratch, remember?" his voice coming out more sharply than he intended.

"Wuss," she muttered, letting him lean on her shoulder as they climbed the steps nonetheless.

The door opened, and Alec stiffened as he saw the carefully blank expression on Logan's. Typical, he probably though he interrupted a lovers embrace. "Hey, Logan, old buddy," he drawled. "Guess what? Got shot again."

"Again?" Logan echoed, and Alec caught the glance he threw at Max to confirm his words.

"Reds," Max said as they gained the door. "We need to get him patched up."

"Yeah, we still have a Museum to clean out," Alec pitched in, grinning at the disapproving look on Logan's face.

"_I_ still have a Museum to clean out," Max told him firmly. "_You're_ going to go back to TC and figure out where those Reds came from."

Alec wasn't fooled for a moment. "It's just a scratch, Max. I'll be fine once I get it bandaged and swallow a few painkillers."

"You can barely walk, Alec."

"Yeah, well, I'm a wuss, remember?" he said. "Besides, there's no way in hell I'm going to let you break into that museum without backup. What if you're rumbled? We're both going in, and that's final."

"Final?" Max said, her voice rising dangerously. "Since when do you tell me what to do?"

"Since you were stupid enough to make me your second in command!"

Logan coughed loudly and Alec glared at him. "What?" he demanded. "You going to tell me she should go in there alone too?"

"Actually," Logan said mildly. "I was going to suggest we continue this 'conversation' inside."

"Oh," Alec stopped, then looked at the street. Several lights had blinked on. "Sorry, man," he offered as he hobbled through the doorway.

"No problem," Logan said dryly before turning to Max. "Hey you," he said softly.

"Hey you," she returned, smiling widely as she closed the door behind her. Alec resisted the urge to gag and hurried into the living room.

"Hi Alec, long time no see."

Alec stopped in his tracks, and smiled stiffly at the blonde leaning back in the couch. "Hey Asha, how's tricks?" he asked as he stumbled to the armchair.

"You're injured," she said, a smile hovering on her lips as she got to her feet. "Why am I not surprised? Let me get the first aid kit." Alec watched as she unerringly went to a small cupboard in the corner and pulled it out. So Asha was a regular here, was she? He wondered if Max knew.

"Asha."

_Speak of the devil._ He leaned back in the armchair and prepared to enjoy the show.

"Hey Max," Asha said lightly as she pulled a roll of bandages out of the kit. "I see you ran into a bit of trouble."

"Yeah, the life of an outlaw transgenic is never dull," she said as she plucked the bandages out of her hands. "Got a scissors in there?"

Silently, Asha handed her the scissors, and Alec instinctively leaned back into the chair as she rounded on him and scowled. "Leg up," She ordered.

Alec promptly obeyed and lifted the leg onto the coffee table, a smile quirking his lips as she bent over the injured leg. The urge to make a smart comment was almost overwhelming but he figured there was a strong chance he'd end up with a pair of scissors in his chest if he tried it.

Quickly, she sliced through the denim and examined the wound. "It's not that deep," she eventually pronounced.

"Gee, Max, I already told you that."

"Shut up," she said absently as she rooted around in the first aid box and produced a bottle of antiseptic and some cotton wool.

"Careful with that," he said, eying the offending bottle.

"Wuss."

The word left her lips the same time it did his, and she smiled reluctantly. "Smart Alec," she murmured as she dabbed at the wound. Alec winced as the antiseptic stung, it was good thing Max never entered any of the caring professions.

"So what was that you were saying about Reds?" Logan enquired, hovering in the middle of the room.

"Whole bunch of them on Freeman's property," Max said briefly.

Logan frowned. "What were you doing _there?"_

Alec decided to take up the slack. "Trying to get a bead on some free ranged X5s" he said, flinching as Max dabbed at the wound a little harder than she strictly need to. "Guess we're not the only ones looking for them."

Logan blinked. "I think you need to fill in a few blanks for me," he eventually said.

Quickly, Alec told him what they'd discovered, and Logan slowly sat down on the other easy chair. "So what you're telling me is that Freeman had his own private stash of X5s, that he raised and trained personally," he said flatly.

"They're kids, Logan," Max said sharply. "They're hardly what I'd call 'raised'"

Alec's mind flashed back to when he was that age, and silently agreed with him. These kids weren't going to be innocents. He glanced at Max's bent head, and watched as she swiftly rolled the bandage around his leg. Her face was stony, her eyes blank. Whatever she may say aloud, he knew she secretly agreed with Logan as well. "Max," he said gently. "Maybe you should show him the new tattoos."

He saw the tension in her shoulder's relax with the change of subject. "Good idea," she murmured as she taped the bandages off. "Time for show and tell."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hmmm," Logan said, and Alec pulled a face as Logan reached for his camera and snapped a photo of the new glyphs.

"Is it bad?" Max asked, craning her neck to see the black tattoo running along the length of her spine.

"Too soon to say," Logan said absently.

"Well I reckon it looks mighty fine," Alec drawled, innuendo dripping off his voice. He smirked at her, from behind Logan's back, as she struggled not to shoot back with a put down.

"Why, thank you, _honey,_" she eventually purred, overly sweet, as pulled up her shirt and buttoned it. "Remind me to repay the compliment _later_." Alec smothered the urge to wince, as he heard the promise of suffering and pain in her voice. When was he ever going to learn when to keep his big mouth shut?

Asha coughed uncomfortably as she edged her way into the kitchen. "I have to make a move," she murmured, as she grabbed her coat from one of the chairs. "I'll contact you later about that…thing."

Logan nodded. "I'll see what I can do," he said. "And be—"

"Careful," she finished for him, grinning as she headed for the door. "See ya, Max, you too, Alec. Try not to get shot again."

Alec smirked as the door closed behind her "Thing?" he asked lightly. "Something you're not telling us?"

Just a little problem with the S.1.W.," he said, dismissively. "Asha thinks they might have another mole in the ranks. She wants Eyes Only to do a few background checks on some of the new cell members."

"Again?" Max sniped, rising to her feet. "Maybe they should tighten up their admissions policy."

Logan shrugged and ignored the edge to her voice. "She's a friend, Max," he said. "I'm helping her out." Alec sighed as she saw the conflict on Max's face and wished she'd just come clean with him. He was getting tired of watching this game play out every time they came here.

Hearing the sigh, Max glared at him. "Time to jet," she said brusquely, and Logan blinked in surprise.

"Already?" he asked. "But I thought we'd go over what you found out a Freeman's place?"

"Don't worry about it," Max said, zipping up her jacket. "It's our problem, we'll take care of it."

"But, Max, if there really are adolescent X5s—"

"I _said_ we'll take care of it," she snapped as she brushed passed Alec and stormed through the door.

Alec caught Logan's eye and shrugged as he straightened up. "Sorry, man," he said. "You know how it goes." Logan threw him a piercing look, and Alec shifted uncomfortably. Sometimes, he wished Logan would just punch him and get it over with; hell, he'd even stand still for it. If the situation had been reversed… yeah, well, he'd be a lot more vocal about the subject, that's for sure.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Logan said eventually, and Alec nodded.

"Sure thing," he said, then paused before he turned to go. "One thing," he said. "Could you send some copies of those photos to Dix? You know what they say, two heads—"

Max's voice carried through the hallway. "Alec! You _coming_?"

Logan sighed. "I'll email them over," he said. "Make sure she doesn't get herself killed, would you?"

The smirk reappeared on Alec's face. " We've got each other's back," he said, and mentally kicked himself as Logan flinched. Damn it, as if things weren't tense enough as it was. Deciding not the make the situation worse, he limped outside and ignored the glower on Max's face as he made a beeline for his bike.

"Forget it," she told him. "You're riding with me, we'll get someone to pick up your bike later."

"No," he said tersely, as he eased himself onto the saddle.

"That wasn't a suggestion, Alec," she said. "You're in no state to drive."

"I said no, Max," he snapped. "Something wrong with your hearing?"

"What the hell crawled up _your _ass," she asked sharply, jumping off her baby.

"Oh, I don't know, " he drawled. "I've got so many options to choose from. Firstly, there's the small little matter of being shot; then there's the fact I seemed to be stuck in my own little re-enactment of Othello – _you_ choose!" Snarling under his breath, he revved the engine. "It's after midnight, Max, and we've still got a museum to hit."

Max frowned. "Don't be stupid, you in no condition to pull off a burglary!"

"We need the money, " he said. "You know it, I know it, our suppliers sure as hell know it, and I'm not letting you go in alone."

Max shot him a venomous look and shot forward. "You're not going in with me!" she said, poking him in the leg to prove her point.

"Ow!" Alec yelped as the pain shot through him. "Do me a favour, take the sadistic tendencies down a notch or two? I'm starting to get ideas."

"Pig!"

"Sticks and stones, Maxie," he said, pulling the bike out onto the road. "See you on the roof!" Grinning, he looked over his shoulder and watched as Max raced back to her bike. She was going to be furious by the time she caught up, but it was a small price to pay for the look of outrage on her face. Served her right; if she wanted him to play the part of the cuckolding bastard, he was more than happy to oblige.

An engine revved behind him, and he looked in his rear view mirror. Sure enough, it was Max, her face still fixed in a grim scowl. For a moment, sanity reared its ugly head, and Alec wondered what he was doing. The last time he'd seen her _this_ annoyed, he'd ended up spending the night at Normal's.

Alec winced at the memory. If there was one thing Max Guevara knew how to do well, it was how to hit below the belt. Hell, maybe _he_ was the masochist, it would explain a lot.

The roof of the museum came into view, and Alec pulled the bike into a side alley and killed the engine. Grimacing at the ache that ran down his leg, he got off the bike and pulled the backpack out from under the seat, shrugging it onto his shoulders as Max turned into the alley.

"What the hell was _that_ about?" she demanded, before she even turned off the engine.

"Well, you see, Max, sadism is when a—"

"Not _that_, you jerk!" she cut in. "I mean that whole thing about Othello."

Alec sighed; he'd been kind of hoping that had slipped past her radar, some hope. "Shakespeare?" he drawled. "You know, the British guy who wrote all those plays? Jeeze, Max, crack open a book some day." For a moment, Max clenched her fist, and Alec watched with amusement as she took a deep breath and uncurled it slowly. It seemed his jibe about the sadism had hit home after all.

"Stop trying to get a rise out of me," she eventually said, her voice even. "I want to know what you meant."

Alec felt his temper rise, despite himself. "Do I really need to draw you a diagram, Max?" he snapped. "You know exactly what I meant, so stop pretending you don't!"

"Listen, Alec, I thought we already went over this."

"Yeah, well, excuse me for feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing," he muttered.

Max smiled hesitantly "Is it Asha?" she asked. "I didn't know she'd be there, Alec, I swear. I know you have a thing for her and—"

"Damn it, Max, this isn't about Asha. It never was…." Alec sighed and wondered how they'd ever got onto this subject. "You know what? Never mind, let's just drop it, shall we? We've still got a priceless painting to 'liberate', and I'd like to get this over and done with before dawn."

"Alec? What is it you're not telling me?" Max asked softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. Damn it, she was actually worried about him. She never did the touch feely thing…not with him, anyway.

"I told you, it's nothing," he muttered, shrugging the warmth of her hand away. "I'm just tired, that's all." He noticed the small, hurt expression on her face, and immediately felt like a heel. "Really, Max, it's all good," he offered reassuringly. "You know me, I always get cranky when I get shot."

A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, but he could still see the doubt in her eyes. "You sure?"

Alec smirked and threw an arm over her shoulder. "Yeah, Max, I'm sure," he drawled. "Now let's get my cranky ass up onto that roof."

"Jerk," she muttered, nudging him the stomach as they strolled down the alleyway.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time they got back to TC, the wound in Alec's leg was throbbing like a bitch, but the small rolled up canvas that was zipped up snugly in his jacket almost made up for it. A Vermeer would bring a pretty penny on the black market, even if the fact the fence knew he was dealing with a transgenic would drive down the price.

Max jumped off her bike and eyed him, her lips pursing, as she noticed the hitch in his leg as he dismounted.

"You're bleeding again," she told him.

Alec looked down. "So I am," he said, before shrugging. "Nothing new."

"Should get it checked all the same," Max said, "There's a first aid kit on HQ. We''ll patch it up there."

"And here I was thinking I had scored an early night," Alec teased.

Her lips twitched. "Hey, if you're feeling well enough to be robbing banks, you're well enough to do paperwork," she said.

"How the hell did we end up having paperwork anyway?" Alec complained.

"When you decided we needed rotation shifts for our patrols, a regular supply route, and a detail shoring up the fence perimeter," she said, with a smirk.

"Don't remind me, we may have to hit another construction site soon, we're running out of materials," Alec groaned.

Max bit her lip. "It'll be a big job, we can't bring those sort of materials through the tunnels."

"And we can't leave the perimeter as it is, Max, chain link doesn't cut it. It gives us little or no practical defence, and they're gaining too much intel on our movements."

"I don't think they've caught onto what we're doing yet," Max said quietly.

Alec pulled a face. "That's because we're building it in sections. They still think we're making barricades – that's going to change in a few days when we make the final push to finish it."

"By then it'll be too late. They won't be able to stop us because the ground between the chain fence and the wall will have become a kill zone."

"Then all we have to worry about is chemical warfare or an air strike." Alec joked. "No problem."

"They'd have to come up with something new to catch us on the chemical front, so it would to be an air strike. "Max gave him an arch look. "Reckon we could get Dix to rig us up an antimissile system?

Alec grew thoughtful. "No harm asking," he said.

Max punched his arm lightly. "I was joking!"

"Yeah, well, those guys on the perimeter aren't, Max,"Alec said. "And something tells me we're going to need more than a few grenade launchers when they decide to get serious."

Max smirked at him. " Speaking of grenade launchers... did you see the look on their faces when we dumped what was left of the hover drone at the front gate?"

"I thought White was going to have a fit," Alec said. "And the National Guard fellas looked a bit constipated too."

"I think that might have just been Mole-"

"Did I just hear someone take my name in vain," Mole said slinking out from behind a pillar to join them."

"Dude, we're going to have to get you a bell," Alec complained.

"Nah, that's just for kitty kats," Mole drawled, eyeing them significantly. "Got any dough?"

"Good as," Alec said, as he produced the rolled up canvas from under his jacket.

"Good, we're running low and-" Mole paused. "Is that another bullet wound?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "It's nothing," he said.

"At least until the painkillers wear off," Max added dryly.

"Whatever you say, Florence," Mole said, as he chomped back down on his cigar, setting free a cloud of cigar smoke as he tucked the canvas under his arm. "I'll set up the meet with the fence while you two catch up with Dix. Adios!"

"Why do I think Lizard breath may have let out a few salient facts?" Alec asked, looking at Mole's departing back.

"Maybe Dix has some news about those kids," she said, as she headed for HQ.

"They're not kids, Max," Alec pointed out as he caught up. "They're X5s, and they're the same age you were when you broke out of Manticore."

"Don't remind me," Max said, under her breath.

Alec frowned, catching her arm. "What's going on, Max?"

Max pulled her arm free. "It's nothing."

Alec examined her face. Something was really bugging her. "What is it, Max? Tell me."

She didn't meet his eyes. "You know how Manticore was, Alec; until you got specialist training, you're unit was pretty much it. The only other human contact you had was with you trainers and guards, and...well...you know."

"I'm not really seeing where you're going with this, Max," Alec said quietly.

"I'm saying that when it came to close combat or how to strip an Ak47 in 4.2 seconds, you're right, I wasn't a kid...but when it came to judging whether an adult was safe or dangerous? Well, lets just say my people skills weren't up to the task. I mean, we grew up in an environment where our ..._caretakers_ used to torture and experiment on us. What did we know?"

Alec got the uneasy feeling she was leaving a whole lot out, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was. "You're saying you're afraid they'll fall in with the wrong crowd?" he ventured.

Max nodded. "Also, take it from me, it takes a lot to make you run. Nine years of conditioning can get a real hold on you. Chances are, if it weren't for Zack we wouldn't have run either. I'd have just ended up on some lab table.

Alec frowned at that. "Why would you have ended up on the lab table?"

Max shrugged. "Seizures," she said bluntly. "Zack and the others had been covering for me for months, but then Lydecker caught me having one, and the shit really hit the fan."

And suddenly it all began to make sense to Alec. He'd never really got why they'd run. Oh, sure, he understood plenty why they'd stayed gone, but it wasn't as if they knew what it'd be like outside Manticore until after the fact. Zack had taken a big risk on little intel, which was out of character for  
the X5...but if the life of one of his unit had depended on it...and that life was Max... Yeah, he could see it.

"You're being awful quiet," Max observed, frowning up at him.

He smirked, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "You know me, Max, ever the introspective type." He got another shoulder punch for his trouble. "Ow!"

"You know me, _Alec_," Max said sweetly, "Ever the demonstrative type."

"Have ever thought of saying it with flowers?" he muttered.

Max didn't bother answering as she swept through the doors into HQ. "Heard you were looking for me," she called up to Dix.

He waved the both of them up. "Got some intel on those Reds," he said, as they climbed the steps. "They're private, not military, belong to some Russian mobster type who goes by the name of Arkady Gorkin."

Alec stifled a groan, but not quickly enough. Max spun on her heels and glared at him. "You've heard of him?"

"I had a run in with him a few years back, when I was still with Manticore," Alec admitted. "He used to be military, one of the top dogs in the Red programme. I was gathering intel and barely got out alive."

"And now he's gone private," Dix said. "Word is he made some kind of shady deal with the city council. He helps them with their freak problem, and they turn a blind eye when he horns in on the local competition."

Alec sighed as a few things clicked into place. "That's why Freeman's death wasn't reported in the news." he said.

"And it probably means the kids weren't responsible for his death. They weren't running away from a crime scene, they were running from the Reds." Max said excitedly.

"Or they've been caught," Dix observed, before wilting under Max's glare. "Just saying."

"If this is quid-pro-quo, chances are they're already scouting our perimeters," Alec said, "We should double the guard detail, have them go up high – the idiots don't look up."

Max nodded. "Sounds good," she said. "Have them keep an eye out for the X5s too, just in case."

"Thy mightn't even know they're X5s, Max," Alec reminded her. "And even if they do, chances are they'll keep clear of TC, too many variables."

Max folded her arms and glared up at him. "It doesn't hurt to keep an eye out for them, though, does it," she said pointedly.

He pouted. "That's right, pick on the wounded guy."

Something like amusement flickered in her eyes, but she scowled at him anyway. "Suck it up, soldier," she said. "Double the patrols, mean double the paperwork."

"Oh, _Maxie_."

He got another thwack for his troubles.

**tbc**


End file.
